"Bastard!"
In that very instant, Daoist Clear Wind was also cursing inwardly!
He was currently transforming into a phantom of light and shadow, hurtling through the sky to strike at that sword.
He had originally thought that by using the Clear Wind Array, he would be able to suppress Li Yaozu. But he never imagined that when his 'Heavenly Birds' technique was unleashed, it would actually be unable to suppress that sword.
That heavy, oppressive killing intent forced him to use his full strength.
Once this 'Departing Light Wind Shadow' was unleashed, not even he could control it!
This technique could penetrate everything, including Domains, low-grade Dharma Treasures...
"Kill Li Yaozu, and while I'm at it, kill that power-abusing Heavenly Star Sword Saint, and then I'll just flee!"
Daoist Clear Wind gritted his teeth and could no longer be concerned with so much!
As a phantom of light and shadow, his eyes turned cold, and he had already locked onto Li Yaozu's spiritual signature.
High above in the sky.
Li Yaozu was floating there. Over a hundred years had passed. Now, having once again set foot on the lands of the Azure Dynasty and returned to Eternal Sun Prefecture, he looked a bit more travel-worn.
He wore a greatcoat that seemed to be made from the hide stripped from a white bear.
His messy, long hair was scattered casually over the bearskin on his shoulders, and on his back, he carried the sword box he had taken from Merit City when he left.
Many years of cultivation in the Snowy Region had not made him overly lonely, likely because he had someone accompanying him.
Below, as Daoist Clear Wind ascended into the sky, the densely packed spiritual birds locked onto his spiritual signature and surrounded the longsword that had already descended when he first arrived.
Following that, Daoist Clear Wind vanished from sight.
The spiritual birds shattered one by one. Daoist Clear Wind had reached the speed of light. Below, a Domain was forming, destroying those spiritual birds bit by bit as it continuously expanded upwards!
With every snap of the fingers, it rose ten meters. Within a 5-mile radius, everywhere Daoist Clear Wind passed, all things would be destroyed by his technique.
Even in the face of the spiritual power, Domain, and Dharma Treasure of a Divinity Transformation cultivator.
Yet Li Yaozu still did not move. It wasn't that he was suppressed by the spiritual power of the Heavenly Birds. He remained composed, gently stroking the sword box on his back.
The crisis was imminent.
From within the sword box came a gentle female voice, "A'Zu, this person's Primordial Spirit Dao Technique is borrowed from the entire Clear Wind Mountain.
The spiritual birds have suppressed the entire surrounding area, while he has transformed his body into a phantom of light and shadow below, sweeping across the area.
The killing power is extremely heavy. However, this person is a piece of trash. While his attack power is great, if he, in his phantom form, were to truly crash into you, with a physical body as weak as his, he too would undoubtedly die."
"Listen to me," the gentle female voice from the sword box continued. "I will lend you some of my spiritual power. You fight your way out of the great array of spiritual birds and temporarily avoid the brunt of his attack. Wait until his technique ends and he is in a state of weakness, then you can kill him..."
However, Li Yaozu paid not the slightest heed to the female voice coming from the sword box.
Below him, the phantom of light and shadow was soaring straight up, drawing ever closer, with occasional specks of starlight visible within it.
The power of his Sword Dao erupted from his body, and his eyes narrowed slightly in concentration. The sword he had summoned upon his arrival was still floating within that phantom of light and shadow below.
"Are you listening to me at all? You..."
The voice within the sword box was still chattering on, but it did not affect Li Yaozu's concentration in the slightest.
He only replied with a single phrase, "Got it."
And yet, he did not flee from within the spiritual array!
Instead...
He leaned into a dive and charged downwards!
The sword box trembled once. It seemed as if something inside was radiating anger, dissatisfied with Li Yaozu's dismissiveness and stubbornness. But seeing now that Li Yaozu was truly determined to charge ahead recklessly, the voice could not bring itself to say more, lest she disturb his concentration.
Li Yaozu plummeted through the air, heading straight for the phantom of light and shadow!
His body, surprisingly, emitted no aura whatsoever. Facing into the fierce gales, he instead closed his eyes.
Just as when he first arrived, there was not a single praiseworthy thing about him.
Gone was the magnificence of his "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin" and grand sword phantoms from his time as the Sword King.
Compared to Daoist Clear Wind's wind techniques below, he was like a scorched rock in a raging tide; yet no matter how dazzling the phantom of light and shadow, no matter how tyrannical the fierce gales, he remained unmoved.
Until... he grasped that sword that could not have been more ordinary!
During his many years of cultivation in the Snowy Region, Fang Linglong had said that the Sword Dao techniques he once practiced were wrong, that they were too flashy and without substance.
That must have been correct. In the days and nights of the Snowy Region, he cultivated according to this principle, no longer bound by specific sword moves, and instead nurtured the Rules of the world within his sword.
All things under heaven, no matter what they are, have a pattern that can be followed.
Find that pattern, and that is the flaw!
Amidst the fierce gales, spiritual birds, and the phantom of light and shadow.
Li Yaozu opened his eyes.
"I've found you."
He grasped his sword!
And continued straight down, until he was submerged within the spiritual birds and the phantom of light and shadow.
"What?!!!"
Daoist Clear Wind, who had transformed into a phantom of light and shadow, didn't even know his own location; like a stream of light, he had become a part of the array.
But as Li Yaozu descended, in that fleeting instant, the Grand Elder's expression changed dramatically!
Li Yaozu... had passed through his spiritual array that was soaring up into the sky and broken through the suppression of his spiritual birds!
Until... he landed outside the gates of the Clear Wind Sect!
"What?!!"
At this moment, outside the gates of the Clear Wind Sect, the Sect Master and the Heavenly Star Sword Saint, who had each been lost in their own thoughts, were both utterly horrified.
The battle in the sky had none of the so-called collisions, nor did it have the spectacular grandeur they had imagined.
The countless spiritual birds were still there, the streams of light were still flashing, and the oppressive might of the grand array remained, and yet...
Li Yaozu had appeared right before them!
"It's been a long time, Brother Heavenly Star."
Li Yaozu looked from a distance at the Heavenly Star Sword Saint, whom he hadn't seen in many years, and managed a faint smile.
The Sword Saint, however, was still staring dumbfounded at this brother of his.
At this moment, a furious roar suddenly erupted from the sword box.
"A'Zu, you idiot! Do you have any idea you could have died?"
"When on earth will you ever listen to me? You fool, you fool!"
"Did a donkey kick you in the head? Or did the ice in the Snowy Region freeze your brain stupid?"
"!#¥!#&!#...&"
Li Yaozu said not a single word, nor did he look behind him.
He slowly walked forward, gazing at the Heavenly Star Sword Saint, who was now coming back to his senses, as a hundred emotions welled up in his heart.
I come from the Snowy Region.
The Snowy Region was my sheath, my body was my sword; a hundred years of wandering, all to let every artifice fade away.
I return to my homeland.
My sword will slay my sworn enemy, it will drink the blood of villains; with a single strike, let him use a hundred wondrous moves!
A clear ring echoed from the blade!
The longsword possessed a spirit, and the sound of its cry rang out!
"That is..."
The Clear Wind Sect Master and the Heavenly Star Sword Saint had originally wanted to speak with Li Yaozu, but the two of them suddenly found themselves staring blankly at what was behind him.
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